Nicholas Koskinen (Photo courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)
A Mountain Home man was sentenced to 16 years in prison during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
Thirty-nine-year-old Nicholas Thomas Koskinen pled guilty to the latest charges against him.
The most recent arrest for Koskinen came Nov. 9 when he tried to outrun police and fought with officers when he was finally stopped.
According to the probable cause affidavit, officers manning a sobriety checkpoint on County Road 60 saw a silver SUV come down a hill.
When the SUV’s driver, later identified as Koskinen, saw the checkpoint, he began backing up the hill.
An officer left the checkpoint to stop the SUV, but Koskinen hit the gas instead of the brakes.
Throughout the chase, the SUV was being driven in an erratic manner, forcing other motorists to pull to the side of the road to prevent head-on collisions, according to the incident report.
Officers were able to conduct four tactical vehicle interventions (TVI) during the chase, which reached reported speeds of more than 70-miles-per-hour.
The officers involved in the chase were eventually able to box Koskinen’s vehicle in. The maneuver ended the chase, but Koskinen was not willing to give himself over for arrest.
He is reported to have attempted to crawl out of the driver’s side window in an effort to flee.
Koskinen had to be physically removed from the vehicle and then taken to the ground. He continued to resist until three of the officers were able to subdue him to the point they could get cuffs on his wrists.
A Baxter Health ambulance came to the scene and checked Koskinen’s condition. He refused further medical treatment.
Drugs and drug paraphernalia were found in the SUV.
Koskinen was booked into the Baxter County Detention Center on 17 charges, including resisting arrest, fleeing, possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, a second offense DWI and a number of traffic violations.
The drugs found in the search included marijuana, Fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Koskinen has had 11 criminal cases opened on him through the years. Records show he has been booked into the Baxter County Detention Center 40 times.
EARLY AUGUST ARREST
One of the cases was opened on Koskinen in early August, only 71 days after he was released from prison on earlier charges.
A majority of the charges in Koskinen’s criminal cases have stemmed from traffic stops which led to finding drugs and drug paraphernalia.
The August arrest came after the black Nissan passenger van he was driving was stopped in Gassville for going 20 miles per hour over the posted speed limit.
He was on parole at the time with a valid search waiver on file allowing for warrantless searches of his person and property. The search yielded a “substantial quantity of drugs and drug paraphernalia.”
According to the probable cause affidavit, officers found:
–32 capsules containing a substance testing positive for fentanyl
–2 pills containing clonazepam
–About 9 grams of methamphetamine
–12 alprazolam pill
–A plastic bag containing a substance believed to be psyllium mushrooms
–6.1 grams of marijuana.
In addition to the drugs, items of drug paraphernalia were located during the search. The items included glass smoking pipes, digital scales, a black magnetic box commonly used to conceal illegal substances in the undercarriage of a vehicle and multiple containers holding methamphetamine residue.
In past cases, he has been charged with being in possession of other drugs including suboxone, hydrocodone and oxycodone.
According to court records, Koskinen has been convicted of 23 separate felonies in his different cases. All of the cases show to have been opened in Baxter County except for one filed in Miller County.
His charges in the August case included trafficking Fentynal, possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, and traffic violations.
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